Latch operating assembly



March 19, 1968 R. s. GULETTE 3,374,021

LATCH OPERATING ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 23, 1966 IN VENTOR.

AT T ORNZZY United States atent 3,374,021 p LATCH OPERATING ASSEMBLY Ronald S. Gulette, Warren, Mich}, assigning;- to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Delaware y t Filed Nov. 23, 1966, Ser. No. 596,676

Claims. (Cl. 292-'-336.3)

This invention relates to latch operatingassemblies and more particularly to operating assemblies for vehicle body door latches.

One feature of this invention is that it provides a new and improved vehicle body door latch operating assembly including a rotatable operating handle andan actuating member operable upon the latch, the actuating member being free of any drive connection or restraint on the handle in rest or nonactuating position so as to be capable of freewheeling relative thereto, but being connected to the handle merely by initial latch actuating rotation of the latter. Another feature of this invention is in the use of a clutch member responsive to initial latch actuating rotation of the handle to move axially of the handle and establish connection with an axially spaced freewheeling actuating member for simultaneous rotation of the latter with the handle to actuate the latch. Other features of this invention reside in the use of common spindle means H for the handle, clutch member and actuating member, and in the general compactness of assembly of the various parts.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following specification and the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a vehicle body door including a door latch and a latch operating assembly according to this invention, the operating handle of the assembly being shown in nonactuating and partially rotated positions in broken and solid lines respectively;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken generally along the plane indicated by lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a partially broken away sectional view taken generally along the plane indicated by lines 3-3 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, a vehicle body 10 includes a front door 12 hingedly mounted in conventional manner adjacent its forward edge 14 for swinging movement between a closed position as shown and an open position, not shown. A door latch 16 is provided adjacent the rearward edge of the door for cooperation with striker means on the body to hold the door 12 in closed position. For the details of a suitable latch, reference may be had to Fox et al. 3,190,- 682 issued June 22, 1965. Generally, however, it will be understood that latch 16 is typical in that it has provisions for release from outside the vehicle by an outside push button or the like, and includes inside operating means operable from inside the vehicle and represented in the drawings as an inside remote lever 18. A latch operating assembly according to this invention, designated generally as 20, is provided to operate remote lever 18 through a conventional draft link 22 connected at one end to the lever.

Referring to FIGURE 2, the inner structural panel 24 of door 12 is formed with a suitable depression defining a cavity between the inner panel and the interior trim pad 26 thereover, and the inner panel is apertured as at 28. Support body structure for the latch operating assembly includes a backplate 30 and a cover plate 32, the latter having a raised central portion extending through the aperture and being secured with the backplate to inner 3,3 74,021 Patented Mar. 19, 1368 panel 24 by a series of fasteners 34. A spindle 36 has an enlarged portion thereof journalled within an aperture in the raised portion of cover plate 32 with ashoulder 38 bearing thereagainst, and has a reduced end portion thereof similarly journalled in an aperture in the backplate 30. At its interior end portion, the spindle projects through the .trim. pad 26 and is splined to receive a similarly splined hub portion of an operating handle 40,- with a generally conventional omega clip 42 being received within the hub portion of the handle and within an annular groove of the spindle to retain the handle on the spindle. Adjacent its other end, spindle 36 'rotatably mounts one end of an actuating lever 44 interposed axially between the face of backplate 30 and a shoulder of spindle 36, the distal end of lever 44 having conventionally secured thereto the adjacent end of draft link 22. Intermediate the cover plate 32 and actuating lever 44 spindle 36 mounts a clutch member 46 which has a double D-shaped central aperture receiving a similarly shaped portion 47 of the spindle to provide for relative nonrotatable driving connection therebetween yet to allow axial sliding movement of the clutch member on the spindle. Clutch member 46 includes a pair of struck tabs 48 engageable with opposed dogs 50 on actuating lever 44 in a manner to transmit actuating rotation from spindle 36 to lever 44 and thus to remote lever 18 of the latch 16 through draft link 22.

A coil spring 52 is seated between clutch member 46 and actuating lever 44 and has one end portion 54 hooked over backplate 30 and another end portion 56 hooked over one of the tabs 48 of the clutch member in a manner to bias the clutch member, the spindle 36, and handle counterclockwise, as the parts appear in FIGURE 3, to a rest or nonactuating position as indicated in broken lines in FIGURE 1. This latter position is also indicated in broken lines in FIGURE 3 wherein it is seen that one tab 48 engages a struck tab 58 of the cover plate 32 to provide a stop. In this nonactuating position of the parts, clutch member 46 is located or biased by spring 52 axially inwardly on spindle 36 to abut the shoulder 38 thereof and to have the tabs 48 out of engagement with the dogs of the actuating lever 44. During initial clockwise rotation of the handle, spindle and clutch member against the action of the spring from the broken line nonactuating position of FIGURE 1 to the partially rotated position shown in full lines in FIGURES 1 through 3, the tabs 48 of the clutch member are engaged with diametrically opposed cam tabs 60 struck from cover plate 32 and having cam ramp surfaces 62 operative to force the clutch member axially outwardly on spindle 36 to the position shown in FIGURE 2 and to axially compress spring 52. In this position, the tabs 48 are located in the plane of actuating lever 44 and engageable with dogs 50 to transmit continued actuating rotation of handle 40 and spindle 36 to the actuating :lever whereby to release latch 12. Upon such actuation of the latch and subsequent manual release of handle 40, spring 52 returns from its torsionally wound and axially compressed state to rotate the handle, clutch member and spindle back to nonactuating position and to return clutch member 46 axially of the spindle to its normal or disengaged position as the tabs 48 release from the cam tabs 60. It is of course understood that latch 16 has the usual return spring means operative upon remote lever 18 or otherwise to return the remote lever, draft link 22 and actuating lever 44 to the nonactuating position shown in FIGURE 2.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that in the non-actuating position of the parts, actuating lever 44 is entirely free of any restraining connection with the clutch member, spindle or handle 40 and is therefore free to freewheel or rotate independently on the spindle 36 when the handle 40 is not operated to actuate the latch. Ac-

cordingly, in the event of a broadside collision or the like causing lateral distortion of door 12 and draft link 22 in a manner forcing end-to-end shortening of the latter, there is no restraint in the latch operating assembly dictating that such shortening take place at the latch end of the draft link in a manner to cause unwanted rotation of remote lever 18 and consequent release of latch 16. It is however seen that positive driving connection is established between handle 40 and actuating lever 44 with but a nominal amount of initial actuating rotation of the handle when it is desired to intentionally operate latch 16 from inside the vehicle.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a vehicle body having a door and a door latch, latch operating means comprising, support means on the door, operating handle means mounted on said support means for rotation about an axis between a nonactuating and a latch actuating position, actuating means rotatably mounted on said support means in axially spaced relation to said handle means and being connected to said latch for actuation thereof, and connecting means responsive to rotation of said handle means from said nonactuating toward said latch actuating position thereof to move axially of said handle means to connect said handle means and said actuating means for simultaneous rotation and actuation of said latch, said actuating means being free of connection with said handle means by said connecting means in the nonactuat'ing position of said handle means.

2. Latch operating means recited in claim 1 including common spindle means concentrically mounting said handle means and said actuating means on said support means.

3. Latch operating means as recited in claim 1 wherein said connecting means includes a clutch member mounted on said support means concentrically with said handle means for simultaneous rotation at all times therewith and movement axially thereof, and cam means operative upon said simultaneous rotation to move said clutch member axially of said handle means into rotation imparting connection with said actuating means. a

4. Latch operating means as recited in claim 3 wherein said cam means includes cooperative cam abutments on said clutch member and on said support means engageable upon rotation of said clutch member with rotation of said handle means from said non-actuating toward said latch-actuating position thereof.

5. Latch operating means as recited in claim 3 further including a coil spring connected between said support means and said clutch member in a manner to simultaneously bias said handle means from the latch-actuating to the nonactuating position thereof and bias said clutch member axially of said handle means out of rotationimparting connection with said actuating means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,843,013 1/1932 Buettner. 1,918,411 7/1933 Lowe. 2,676,050 4/1954 Nichols. 2,783,074 2/1957 Miltner 292-3363 FOREIGN PATENTS 473,469 10/1937 Great Britain.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A VEHICLE BODY HAVING A DOOR AND A DOOR LATCH, LATCH OPERATING MEANS COMPRISING, SUPPORT MEANS ON THE DOOR, OPERATING HANDLE MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS BETWEEN A NONACTUATING AND A LATCH ACTUATING POSITION, ACTUATING MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS IN AXIALLY SPACED RELATION TO SAID HANDLE MEANS AND BEING CONNECTED TO SAID LATCH FOR ACTUATION THEREOF, AND CONNECTING MEANS RESPONSIVE TO ROTATION OF SAID HANDLE MEANS FROM SAID NONACTUATING TOWARD SAID LATCH ACTUATING POSITION THEREOF TO MOVE AXIALLY OF SAID HANDLE MEANS TO CONNECT SAID HANDLE MEANS AND SAID ACTUATING MEANS FOR SIMULTANEOUS ROTATION AND ACTUATION OF SAID LATCH, SAID ACTUATING MEANS BEING FREE OF CONNECTION WITH SAID HANDLE MEANS BY SAID CONNECTING MEANS IN THE NONACTUATING POSITION OF SAID HANDLE MEANS. 